Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) SVP John W. Madonna Sells 1,806 Shares

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total transaction of $375,431.28. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,192 shares in the company, valued at $1,495,072.96. This represents a 20.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $207.90 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $194.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $177.98. The company has a market cap of $24.35 billion, a PE ratio of 23.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $211.00.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.60 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 63.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Bank of America upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.08.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,707,456 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $772,635,000 after purchasing an additional 26,601 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,750,658 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $700,210,000 after purchasing an additional 170,336 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth approximately $642,967,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,845,302 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $530,121,000 after purchasing an additional 39,189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,609,329 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $300,446,000 after acquiring an additional 4,454 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Darden Restaurants

Darden Restaurants, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates full-service restaurants in the United States and Canada. It operates under Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze, Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, and Capital Burger brand names.